Do you take a traditional summer holiday?
We often stay at our family beach house in Waihi, but this year we’re spending the holiday season at home in Titirangi. Our place is a few minutes away from Wood Bay, nestled among the bush on a hill overlooking the beach. In the early 1920s, most of the land in our area was subdivided and marketed to Aucklanders as a summer or weekend getaway and our place was built during that time.
Despite having a small house, we still have a lovely amount of land, with a small forest out the back for the kids to explore. We’ll spend plenty of time down at French Bay and Huia Beach with the kids, and explore new bush walks in the Waitakere Ranges. I love being in Auckland at this time of year, as it’s much quieter.
You’re about to renovate your kitchen. What are you planning to do?
I’m installing a lovely, dark stone benchtop. The current one is white Formica and it’s constantly getting stained by turmeric, beetroot and so on. There will be walnut-coloured wood panelling on the walls, a deep, black sink and matching tapware.
I will also be tiling the window sill, which overlooks the luscious, native bush that surrounds our home. I couldn’t imagine a nicer view to admire while cooking.
Do you do much gardening at home?
I’ve built four large vegetable gardens and this summer there will be plenty of salad greens, courgettes, tomatoes and green beans. If there’s a glut of courgettes, which there always is, I plan on making a spiced courgette relish. I often blanch any leftover green beans and pop them in the freezer for the colder months.
You released a cookbook, Sweet Delights, last year. How did that go?
Sweet Delights had such great feedback, mostly for its small handheld size and simple, beautiful aesthetic. I am working on my next book to be released in October. It’s something a little unexpected this time, not so much of a cookbook.
That’s all I can say right now! Once I have the book out of the way (the deadline is the end of February) I’m hoping to go on a much-needed holiday!
What food trends would you like to see in 2017?
Using more of everything in our cooking, like the root to the stem of vegetables, and the more unusual parts of an animal. I’d love to see minimal waste when it comes to the food we cook.
Photography by : Rebekah Robinson.
This article was first published in Taste magazine.
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